Drinking-fountain



E. T. WEBSTER.

DRINKING FOUNTAIN. APPLlcATlou FILED JULY 30.1919.

. 1 395 374 Patented Nov. 1, 1921.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD T. WEBSTER, 0F MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN.

DRINKING-FOUNTAIN.

Application filed July 30,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD T. WEBSTER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Milwaukee, county of Milwaukee, and State of Wisconsin, have invented new and useful Improvements in Drinking-Fountains, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in drinking fountains.

The object of my invention is to provide a drinking fountain which cannot be fouled in such a manner as to contaminate the water jet; which has the nozzle so placed as to preclude contact with the nozzle, of the lips of any person drinking at the fountain; to provide means for so protecting the nozzle as to prevent foreign matter from dropping into it from above, or from finding lodgment in the vicinity of the nozzle aperture; to provide means whereby the nozzle protecting member or members may also be protected from contamination, except as to matter falling vertically upon it or substantially so. and to provide a form of protecting ledge which will tend to clear itself from foreign materials, and which can be easily and perfectly cleansed of any material that may adhere thereto.

Also to provide a form of fountain having no irregular contours or sharp angles or recesses of a character to facilitate lodgment of foreign matter, and having no projections or members of any kind which are liable to be broken or damaged.

Heretofore, it has been common to attempt to prevent improper use or contamination of drinking fountains, by providing protecting shields which extend above the bowl and which are intended to serve as a mouth guard, but in actual use the corner of the mouth is often placed on the edge of the shield, which thus facilitates, instead of preventing, lodgment of foreign matter. Large shields are also utilized to shield mischiefmakers, such as children who partially obstruct the nozzle with their fingers, and by reducing the size of the stream, develop suflicient force to throw a jet over their playmates. g It i one object of my invention to dis pense with the necessity of such projecting guards or shields, by locating the a nozzle within a recess of the bowl, and protecting it adequately within the recess.

Another object of my invention is to provide a nozzle of such form as to secure all Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 1, 1921.

1919. Serial No. 314,310.

the advantages of a vertical jet, and the sanitary conditions resulting from inclined jets, this being accomplished by providing a nozzle which is so nearly vertical as to form an apex at which the stream is solid and substantially at rest, but with sufiicient inclination to cause substantially all the water to fall at one side of the ascending stream. This enables me to obtain the added advan tage of a descending stream in close proximity to the ascending stream, but diverging therefrom as it falls to the bowl in a substantially solid stream, without material distribution or splashing.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of a drinking fountain embodying my invention, drawn to aplane intersecting the nozzle port and outlet, with the pipe connections omitted.

Fig. 2 is a plan view.

Like parts are identified by the same reference characters throughout both views.

The top of the bowl 1 preferably has a generally oval form, and the inner surface curves downwardly from the margins to a centrally disposed outlet 2.

But at one end of the bowl, I provide a substantially vertically disposed recess, rectangular in cross section, with one side open to the bowl. The bottom 5 of the recess is inclined in the direction of the open side, with a rounded margin at 6, where the ledge or bottom of the recess merges with the downwardly curving surfaces of the wall of the bowl. This inclined bottom wall of the recess is provided with a port or passage 7 extending through the material of which the bowl is composed, and constituting a nozzle through which a jet of water will be discharged in a solid stream, preferably at an angle of about eight degrees from a vertical line through the outlet, the inclination being toward the central portion of the bowl. The bottom wall of the recess is provided with an upwardly rounded or convex surface 8 at the point where the nozzle port 7 is located, the latter passing through the central portion of this convex portion, whereby material passing down the ledge will be deflected away from the nozzle.

Back of this port 7 the wall rises abruptly to form the back wall 12 of the recess. The side walls 13 and 14 are sufficiently close to each other, to prevent any person from reaching the ledge with his lips. But they are also sufliciently separated to avoid contact of the lips of the person drinking from the jet. The nozzle aperture, being at some distance below the top of these walls, is, of

' extent as to bring his lingers in contact with the nozzle, without so disposing his hand as to allow the jet of water to drive upwardly into his sleeve. The arrangement therefore discourages any attempt to obstruct the flow of water from the nozzle.

It will be observed that my improved drinking fountain is so formed that the entire bowl, including the walls of the recess and the inclined wall or ledge at the bot tom thereof, and the nozzle port, mayall be formed of porcelain, or lined with porcelain,

presenting a continuous smooth and even surface with no sharp angles or obscure corners, all parts being visible and easily cleaned, and all parts, being below the upper margin of the bowl. The jet, of water will have suflicient force to carry it to an apex or high point above the central portion of the bowl, from which point it will fall into the outer or major portion of the bowl, and will strike the downwardly curving surface thereof in such a manner as to be guided, without splashing, to the outlet 2. A peron drinking at the fountain will therefore be obliged to drink from the stream at the point where it loses its velocity, and at sufiicient distance from the walls of the bowl, or of its recess, to prevent the same from becoming fouled by contact with his lips.

In stating that the inclination of the jet from a vertical direction is substantially eight degrees, I no not intend to limit the scope of my invention to a nozzle adapted to discharge a jet at that specific inclination. Any nozzle adapted to direct the ascending stream so nearly along a vertical line as to allow the water to substantially come to rest before descending, and the jet so inclined from a vertical line as to allow the stream to turn and fall at one side of the ascending jet, without material interference from or intermingling with the ascending tream, will be capable of accomplishing the object sought, and the limit of possible variation which may be regarded as constituting an inclination of substantially eight degrees will, of course, depend to some entent on the velocity of the stream, and the consequent height to which the jet rises, and also to some extent on the diameter of the nozzle; 7

It is essential to this feature of my invention, however, that the stream shall have little velocity at the crest as compared with the drinking fountains heretofore constructed on the principle of the inclined jets, but the inclination must besuch that substantially all the water will fall in one direction under normal conditions, and it is highly important that the descending stream should diverge sufficiently from the ascending stream to prevent intermingling. It is also highly important that the descending stream be caused to strike upon an inclined surface so that it will flow away-readily toward the drain, without splashing in the direction of the nozzle.

I claim V l. A drinking fountain including a bowl, having a recess in its wall extending from the top of the bowl downwardly along substantially vertical lines and open on the side toward the bowl, said bowl having at the base of the recess a nozzle port adapted to deliver a stream of water upwardly in the recess at an inclination deviating slightly from a vertical line toward the open side of the bowl while maintaining said jet so nearly to said vertical line as to allow the water to substantiallycome to rest before descending, said nozzle port being protected on the open side by the-descending jet against access from points within the bowl, and by the walls of the recess and the ascending jet against-access from any other points of approach by hand or lip of the user. 2. A drinking fountain including a bowl, having a recess in its wall extending from the top of the bowl downwardly and open on the side toward the bowl, said bowl also having ,a nozzle portadapted to deliver a stream of water upwardly in the recess at an inclination deviating slightly from a vertical line toward the open side of the recess and in sufficient proximity to the side and back walls of the recess to prevent access to the nozzle port, the side walls of said recess being sufficiently distant from each other to avoid contact with the lips of a person drinking at the fountain. V

3. A drinking fountain including a bowl having a recess extending from the top of the bowl downwardly and open on the side toward the water receiving portion of the bowl, and also having a nozzle port adapted to deliver a stream of water upwardly through the recess and toward the space above the major portion of the bowl, the side walls of said recess being in sufficient proximity to protect the nozzle port and the lower portion of the stream of water within the recess from contact with the lips of a person drinking at the fountain, and the bottom of said recess having one portion slightly elevated to the nozzle port on the rear side, and another portion inclined therefrom-to the open side of the recess, and toward the bottom portion of the bowl; all other portions of the bottom of the recess being inclined downwardly toward the central portion ofthe bowl.

4. A drinkingfountain bowl having a'recess in one of its walls extending from the top of the bowl downwardly, with its bottom inclined inwardly and downwardly toward the bottom of the bowl and provided with a nozzle aperture, adapted to discharge water upwardly through the top of the recess and inwardly toward the central portion of the bowl ;the walls of the recess being continuous, smooth surfaced, unobstructed and visible throughout, and the bottom wall being downwardly inclined from the nozzle outlet port on all sides thereof, the upwardly extending recess walls being also sufiiciently close to the path taken by a jet of water from the nozzle aperture to prevent access to the nozzle aperture when such jet is being delivered.

5. A drinking fountain, comprising the combination of a bowl provided with an inclined ledge at one side, and an inclined side wall leading downwardly from the ledge toward the central portion of the bowl, and means for delivering a jet of water in a nearly vertical direction from the ledge at such an angle from the vertical as to allow the water to turn inwardly and fall to said inclined side wall between the ledge and the central portion of the bowl.

6. A drinking fountain comprising the combination of a bowl having a discharge aperture and provided with an inclined ledge at one side and an inclined side wall leading downwardly from the ledge toward the said discharge aperture, and means for delivering a jet of water in a nearly vertical direct-ion from the ledge at such an angle to the vertical as to allow the water to turn inwardly and fall to said inclined side wall between the said ledge and the said discharge aperture of the bowl.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

EDWARD T. XVEBSTER.

0. C. WEBER. 

